We had a pile up heading into the biggest section of whitewater on the McKenzie and I was right on Courtney’s tail. I paddled left to avoid her boat and immediately succumbed to a side wave. I held out underwater for a bit but no one was going to rescue me. I pulled my sprayskirt and swam. Humiliated. But something good happened. I rescued myself and my own boat. I didn’t need anyone’s help.
I kicked it to a safe eddy, emptied out the water myself and got back in. I choked back tears not because I was embarrassed or defeated but because I couldn’t go back and try those waves again. If everyone else could do it, so could I.
I caught my breath and paddled back to the group. The other girls smiled encouragingly. I talked to Lauren and felt better as we approached the last section of rapids. I finally made it without swimming. The cheers from the girls matched the ones inside.
Photo by Desiree
We climbed back into the van for the ride home. I sat quietly listening to the others whose energy was twice what it was on the way in. SheJumps is no miracle drug that will turn you into an instant extreme athlete. However, it does get you amped. It gives you a taste of what that life is like; it enables you to explore parts of yourself you weren’t in tune with while keeping you safe and it plants a seed for continued adventure. It’s up to you to connect the dots.
I loved visiting Bend, meeting the folks at Tumalo and sharing time on the water with some really cool chicks. And I love kayaking whether I’m paddling or swimming next to my boat. At least I know I don’t have to impress some guy with my mad skills or hear him tell me to suck it up.
To learn more about SheJumps, befriend the SJ Girafficorn on Facebook, go to SheJumps.org, and follow on Instagram and Twitter with @shejumps and #shejumps.
We piled into the Tumalo van for the two-hour drive. The lively conversation involved topics like the most magical travel experience you’ve ever had, farmers markets and massage therapy. At the put in, Lauri announced she had forgotten her sprayskirt. Lauren, moments later, couldn’t find the van keys.
Mo set to work building a skirt out of a trashbag and duct tape.
The rest of us hunted for the keys. Lauren felt embarrassed and kept apologizing for putting us out, but we all could relate. This was typical chick M-O. We lose and forget things ALL THE TIME. It was easy to go with the flow, Lauren was with us and not a group of guys.
Twenty minutes later she found her keys- sitting right on top of her boat! We laughed but didn’t scold. With Lauri all taped into her kayak we were ready to roll, so to speak. The weather was perfect, the water chilly but manageable in a drysuit or wetsuit, and spirits high. Until…
Swimming
We paddled downstream and gathered at the first eddy. I stuck close to Mo hoping to glean some gem that would magically turn me into the kayaker I wanted to be. She looked back and said, “There. That’s it. Now you’re doing it.” But in truth I was still apprehensive about the upcoming whitewater.
The next task was to eddy* behind as many boulders as we could that were strewn throughout the coming stretch. I caught the very first eddy and beamed. I thought eddying was the one skill I did fairly well but there was still lots to learn. My head and self-confidence were a jumble.
That’s when I found myself between a rock and a hard place. Literally.
I went to eddy-out, into the current, but the rock was too close to my paddle and I flipped, then swam. Mo “rescued” me; shouting for me to grab her boat and keep my feet up in the shallow water as I bounced off rocks. I was ok. The only thing bruised was my ego. I caught up with my boat and apologized for the swim. She said no worries but I began to feel like “a girl”. We broke for lunch. I laid in the cool water, wishing for a second wind and a chance at redemption; praying the mood would wash over me.
After wolfing down my turkey sandwich from Bend’s Strictly Organic Café, I still wasn’t ready to get back in my boat. The largest wave train of the day lay ahead. I savored the wild blackberries growing on a nearby bush, wondering where my mojo went. The girls talked excitedly about their morning and their renewed love of kayaking. The SheJumps course was a great idea on so many levels. It brought them together, it developed their skills and it took place in a supportive environment.
It was a glorious afternoon and I wish I could tell you that I rocked the wave train but I’d be lying. I swam that too.
*Definition:A river feature formed when the current flows around an obstacle and water flows back upstream to fill in the space left by the deflected current. The current inside of eddies flows upstream. Eddies are great for resting, getting out of the current, getting out of the river and scouting.
I woke up at 10 a.m. today. Don’t act surprised. I’m a night owl. And on top of that I’ve been on a whirlwind kayak binge in Bend, Ore. It was time to crash. I imagine this is what visitors to Park City feel when they go aggro over outdoor rec for three days in a row and have been sitting behind a desk for months leading up to the trip. Oh, don’t bag on me for not sitting behind a desk all my life. You get my meaning.
Rowing
I pulled into Tumalo Creek Canoe and Kayak shop at 5 p.m. Friday after a ten-hour drive from Utah…by myself. No, I haven’t taught the dog to steer yet. His paws won’t reach. The shop everything you could ask for in waterplay- SUPs, tubes, clothes, dog float coats, touring kayaks and whitewater kayak gear. They also do lessons and excursions to places around Bend. In fact, the shop sits on the Deschutes riverbank.
I had just enough time to unload my boat and the dog before the SheJump introductions and quick pool session to get us acquainted with paddling gear. SheJumps is a nonprofit based here in Utah but rockstar women from all stretches of the U.S. comprise its core. They are dedicated to growing female participation in outdoor sports by running women-specific events. It’s no easy task when most women are good at making excuses for not playing- kids, time, injuries, shopping, partner who whines. Most active women will confess that they got involved with_____ (fill in the blank with skiing, rockclimbing, canyoneering, kayaking, etc) because a guy took them. SheJumps doesn’t want you to wait for “some guy.” They offer basic, technical skills workshops to help women discover the outdoors on their own. The sports may sound extreme but they are perfectly approachable with knowledgeable caring guides, hosts and peers.
When other women and girls are ‘doing’, you don’t have the same excuses you’d make in a group of guys. ‘They’re acting crazy, they’re more experienced, I can’t do that.’ When your peers are surrounding you, you think, “I can do that too.” Whether it’s a bike maintenance, avalanche or fly fishing clinic, the lessons come from nurturing supportive coaches.
The gaggle of six, mostly Oregon-based chicks was immediately introduced to our guides for the weekend- Mo, Lauren and Cait (our SheJumps representative). Cait had attended a women’s whitewater conference and wanted to bring a similar event to Bend. I had seen the Facebook post on SheJumps and immediately wanted in. What’s a 10-hour drive when you can have expert instruction from women, not men? Guys might take offense and think there’s no difference but when a girl’s about to cry out of frustration I need to hear “hang in there” rather than “suck it up”. I can only imagine what male kayakers would think after yesterday’s final day when one girl left her sprayskirt at the shop (a two-hour drive back), another lost the keys to the van and people were swimming right and left!
We spent Friday evening learning about gear and practicing bow rescues in a small portable pool.
Saturday, we paddled upstream (for hours) on the Deschutes to discuss proper kayak posture, paddle strokes and ferrying from one side of the river to the other. Because of my late nights, I barely had the energy for the tiny section of whitewater at the end of the day. Big mistake. All the other girls not only rocked it but relished in repeating the ferrying drills. My arms were jello so I watched.
Saturday’s drills were meant to prep us for the final day on the McKenzie River; a class II+ whitewater section. Boy, was I excited. I even tried to get more sleep….
I was apprehensive at first. As much as I love Disney, I had read that Disney Paris – with separate owners and operations (Euro Disney S.C.A. is a publicly traded company. The Walt Disney Company has only a minority stake in the business) -was more of a cheap imitation of the real thing than an addition. Built in the beet fields outside Paris in 1992, Euro Disney took Europe by storm. And by storm I mean controversy; to the point that the EDSCA worried of financial ruin. There were strikes, railroad shutdowns, injuries from the new Indiana Jones ride after the emergency brakes malfunctioned, low attendance. It was tagged a “cultural Chernobyl” by the French.
Attendance in 1992 was about half of their expectations. It took some time to get the recipe right but EuroDisney restructured their finances and opened Space Mountain in 1995. Finally, they turned a profit.
Oh the irony on this most recent day in May, 2015. The crowds were huge and Space Mountain was closed until July for renovations. Drat.
These were some the longest lines I’ve ever waited in at a Disney Park and I couldn’t even ride the main attraction. Granted, I go to Disney on a non-holiday weekday while school is still in session and apparently last Friday was a French holiday. In France it also depends on the time of day you hit the rides. I did hear the long lines all but disappear by dusk.
We got to Disneyland Park (the other park at Disney Paris is Hollywood Studios) an hour after opening and chose Star Tours as our first event. Big mistake without a fastpass. The two-hour wait was enough to send my parents back to their hotel room.
Unlike the rides in the U.S. there is absolutely nothing to keep you entertained while you wait. No dioramas, faux villages, or TVs, or decent music. Just standing in long mazes feeling your energy drain to your toes. If only they offered park-wide WiFi. That would have helped kill the time. I downloaded the official Disney Paris app but little good it did without a connection.
Ryan gave me grief that I would travel all the way to France ‘just to go to Disney’ but the lines for the tourist attractions in the city are about the same and I’d much rather be walking through Fantasyland than the Louvre. Sure, some of the rides and themes are the same as you’ll find stateside- Sleeping Beauty Castle, Dumbo, Autopia, Phantom Manor (aka Haunted Mansion) – but their reinterpretation is the draw. Slight twists on the architecture, the attitude, the storytelling. That’s what I was anxious to discover and that’s what made the day exciting and fun.
Notably missing here are the Enchanted Tiki Room, Innovations, Little Mermaid Ride, Nemo, Jungle Cruise, anything Frozen, the Matterhorn.
We spent most of our time on the Frontierland side as there wasn’t much going on at Discoveryland (aka Tomorrowland) with Space Mountain closed. The submarine ride was also under renovation. That left Star Tours and the Buzz Lightyear laser ride/game. With fastpasses, we were in and out of that one pretty quickly.
Lots of areas were walled off for renovations. IMHO, Disney Paris needs more and unique attractions like Ratatouille on the Hollywood Studios side if they want to draw a universal Disney crowd all the way to this little French countryside of Bailly-Romainvilliers. Not to mention spreading the traffic away from the few star attractions.
There isn’t a single, Single Rider line in all of Disneyland Park and it’s sorely needed. There are fastpasses but the kiosks were shut down by lunch. And then there are the rides that kept stopping. We waited in the Phantom Manor line for 45 minutes only to be told the ride was down and they were not sure when it would be working again. So we ate and waited.
The park food was as-to-be-expected. Here’s where all of Disney could take lessons from Deer Valley Resort. Just because you serve cafeteria food doesn’t mean it should taste like cafeteria food. If ever there was a reason to pack your own lunch it’s Disneyland. That said, we were starving so ducked into Hakuna Matata café for a curry chicken salad, pita sandwich and an ice cream bar (about $14). The best thing I can say is that I didn’t leave feeling gross like I do at the fried places in California’s Disneyland. However, in the states you go to Disney as much for the infamous snacks as for the rides- Dolewhips, Mickey bars, beignets, Mickey pretzels, Cheshire Cake Cup, but it’s not the same in DP. In other words, no carrot cake cookies. DP does, however, have delicious chocolate waffles with whipped cream- ‘guafres’ – all over the place.
Europeans must need a lot of places for their kids to roam. All over Disneyland Paris there are play areas. All I can remember in the states was Swiss Family Treehouse and Tom Sawyer Island. Here there’s Pirates Beach, Adventure Isle, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, Pocahontas Indian Village, and this large area with suspension bridges and caves. It’s probably good to have places to run around after standing in lines for hours. We did like the French and played hide and seek in the caves and fake waterfalls between Fantasyland and Frontierland; and chased each other through the maze of Alice’s Labyrinth.
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It’s A Small World felt even smaller in France. Usually you can’t possibly take in all of the animatronics in one float; here, there seemed to be too much open space. It was cute, however, to see the homage paid to the U.S. with old west scenes and Hollywood.
Yes, everything recorded was in French including the overhead pirate but by now any Disney fan knows the spiel. By the way, the Pirates ride is awesome. My favorite part is when you plunge into the ‘sea’ right at the beginning and in France you get TWO drops.
Indiana Jones is a kind of a baby rollercoaster when compared with Everest at Animal Kingdom and nothing like the Indy ‘dark’ ride at Disneyland. You’ll be a bit confused why a crowd would cue for 90 minutes or more to ride it. They do offer a Fastpass but the machines were closed for us. Big Thunder Mountain, however, was the best ride in the whole park. It’s still not worth standing in line for 90 minutes (nothing rarely is) but thrillseekers will love the completely dark sections of track and a coaster that lasts longer than a thought.
The biggest difference between DP and Disney U.S. is they allow smoking everywhere in this place. Or maybe they don’t and the French don’t care about rules. I love the magic of Disney- the Happiest Place on Earth- but I’d be a lot happier if people would put out their f*&king cigarettes. Kids don’t need to be exposed to that and neither do I.
The parks smell like an ashtray and smashed cigarette butts fill the cobbled streets. Random trash does as well. You would think DP would have the same trash system with cans every 30 steps as per ol’ Walt’s rule. He observed that guests in other parks would walk no more than 30 steps with trash in hand before dropping it. I felt like dropping trash too as I couldn’t find a single can in sight.
Trash in Storybook land.
Disney is Disney anywhere in the world so I quite enjoyed myself despite the pollution. If you have never been to Disneyland Paris it’s definitely worth a visit for the cultural Chernobyl alone and it’s great that Europeans have this kind of themepark. But if you live in the states and have access to California or Florida you’ll realize you only really need to visit DP once. There are so many unique places and experiences to be had in this romantic region that DP is just one of them. Like the Catacombs…..
And if you can’t get to France, get to California for Disneyland’s Diamond Celebration. The house of Mickey is celebrating 60 years as the Happiest Place on Earth. Yep, for six decades, the Disneyland Resort has been bringing charming attractions and inventive entertainment to kids of all ages. If you’re looking to book a Disney vacation, check out GetAwayToday. The Utah travel agency is known countrywide as the place to do Disney up right.
We were Parisians today; languishing in the morning bustle of the hotel pre-checkout with a buffet breakfast of omelettes, croissants and café.
When we did check out we headed straight for the Metro and over to the Tuileries for a stroll.
It struck me as odd that there were people seated around the central fountain just staring in; watching ducks skim the green water. We Americans usually stand a bit, toss a coin and move on.
The standing must happen on the bridges over the Seine where lovers snap on locks and toss the key overboard. Judging from the number of passersby compared to the number of locks on the metal grates, I seriously doubt they leave those locks up “forever” anymore. Part of the Pont de Arts bridge near the Louvre Museum actually collapsed last year. Reports say something like 700,000 locks were placed along the Seine bridges last summer.
The trend started around 2007 in Rome when a couple mimicked a practice they read in a book called I Want You by Federico Moccia. When Italy banned the locks, tourists scooted over to Paris and the Seine. Locals apparently think it’s graffiti at its worst and have been protesting to get them removed before it does some serious damage.
Needless to say, Ryan and I skipped the locks. We also skipped the famous Louvre. We ignored the HUGE line, crossed the Bridge to the Musee d’Orsay for a quick tour. Like a cathedral, this museum’s structure is really the centerpiece. It’s hard to believe it was a railway station in the late 1800s and later housing for released prisoners during WWII but was rescued from the demolition block in 1978 and turned into a museum.
The amount of original impressionist and neo-impressionist paintings and sculptures is mesmerizing.
Oh, gee, look at the time! We hustled back to the hotel to meet Mom and Dad for our 30 minute drive to Disneyland Paris.
As we pulled into the reception for the Marriott’s Village d’lle-de-France our driver chuckled. It had the façade of a little French village. Our “cottage” was in Giverny. The place is actually great. Like any solid Marriott timeshare, it is a full-townhouse with kitchen, washer/dryer, two bathrooms and two bedrooms, a kids club, pool, market and surprisingly decent restaurant. We chilled some more. Tomorrow, it’s an early start for Disneyland Park, aka Euro Disney.
